recently viewed top posts by my readers

explanation of benefits

In 2006 I started blogging as Hummingbunny. That blog is no longer active to the public. I warehoused all my poetry in another blog in order to have easier access. In 2012 I stopped writing. Now in 2016 I am using this blog to republish selected poems from the archives. All poems for d'Verse, 3WW, Haiku Horizon and Daily Post are new except Open Link at d'Verse. I am the original author of all works posted here unless otherwise noted. I write mainly haiku, tanka, sestina and free verse poetry. My favorite poet is Rumi and like he, I long to return to the Beloved. Writing poetry brings me peace.

poetry by the numbers

Fib: The typical fib is a six line, 20 syllable poem with a syllable count by line of 1/1/2/3/5/8.
Haiku: A Japanese poem of seventeen syllables, in three lines of five, seven, and five, traditionally evoking images of the natural world.
Tanka: A Japanese poem consisting of five lines, the first and third of which have five syllables and the other seven, making 31 syllables in all and giving a complete picture of an event or mood.
Sestina: a poem with six stanzas of six lines and a final triplet, all stanzas having the same six words at the line-ends in six different sequences that follow a fixed pattern, and with all six words appearing in the closing three-line envoi.
Free verse: Poetry that does not rhyme or have a regular meter.
Tetractys:
Tetractys, a poetic form consisting of at least 5 lines of 1, 2, 3, 4, 10 syllables (total of 20). Tetractys can be written with more than one verse, but must follow suit with an inverted syllable count. Tetractys can also be reversed and written 10, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Double Tetractys: 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 10, 4, 3, 2, 1
Triple Tetractys: 1, 2, 3, 4, 10, 10, 4, 3, 2, 1, 1, 2, 3, 4, 10